Naruto World, Iwagakure.
Bam—!!!
Inside Iwagakure, Ōnoki slammed the table; he'd naturally seen the message Hiruzen Sarutobi just sent.
Right now he was half furious, half laughing—damn it, you old fossil, you call this a Genin fight?!
The kind of Genin that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were?! Are you kidding me?!
Originally, because of Uchiha Madara, Ōnoki had reluctantly allied with Konoha for the moment; now this video exposed the terrifying power of Konoha's two future brats.
No matter what, Ōnoki intended to take a bite out of them. He knew Uchiha Madara was powerful, but the man was a recognized common enemy—an unavoidable existence.
Because of Uchiwa Madara, the Five Great Ninja Villages were willing to set aside past grudges and prepare to unite.
But this video told the other villages that Konoha would produce two more existences comparable to Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
Although no one knew how far off this future was, judging by their looks it should be about a dozen years later when they matured.
And apparently they would be the main force against the future Uchiha Madara.
In the video they had already defeated Uchiha Madara; for some reason they later turned on each other.
Yet Ōnoki understood that while they fought inside the video, outside the video the Third Hokage—having noticed the early signs—would probably "correct" it.
Whether the Third Hokage succeeded or not, Ōnoki would still apply pressure.
He wasn't the only one with that idea; the Fourth Kazekage, Fourth Raikage, and Fifth Mizukage shared it.
The four Kage together pressured Hiruzen Sarutobi, demanding an "explanation" of what was up with those two Genin.
Naruto World, Amegakure.
"…Sasuke and Naruto? They'll grow this strong in the future?"
Uchiha Obito watched Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto in the video; killing intent flashed in his eyes as he muttered, "Was it those two who wrecked the plan?"
"If so, then it makes sense that Uchiha Madara will be revived in the future—only that monster has the strength to hold those two back."
Uchiha Obito could naturally see that the Sasuke and Naruto in the video already rivaled the peak strength of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
It seemed they had also obtained some power from the Six Paths Sage.
"…"
Obito sat in Amegakure, staring at the village's endless rain, thick killing intent radiating from him.
"Your killing intent is too heavy."
At that moment Nagato appeared—or rather, one of his Six Paths bodies.
Looking at Obito, he said calmly, "You saw it too."
"Of course." Obito reined in his killing intent and replied quietly, "This is good for us."
"After all, Konoha is under far more pressure than we imagined; even that old Third Hokage must be getting a splitting headache."
Though Obito's killing intent had surged, he didn't charge into Konoha to kill Sasuke and Naruto.
Doing so would likely unite the Five Great Villages and gather all the Jinchuriki to wipe out the Akatsuki Organization.
If that happened, even killing Naruto would ruin everything he had worked for.
The Five Kage were no pushovers, and he lacked Madara's terrifying strength—so he had to endure.
Besides, judging by their ages in the video, both Sasuke and Naruto still needed a long time to fully mature.
They had plenty of time to wait.
"Yes, we move in three years." Nagato insisted on waiting three years; by then every obstacle blocking the Akatsuki would be cleared.
That would be when the Akatsuki's plan began.
"You're really patient—seeing that video and still not changing your mind." Obito mocked Nagato.
In truth, if the five villages hadn't temporarily united because of "Uchiha Madara,"
he would've stormed into Konoha right now and killed Naruto.
Sasuke couldn't be touched for the moment—thanks to his good older brother; moving against him would put Obito in great danger.
"Pain is invincible; in three years I'll act personally and prioritize capturing the Nine-Tails." Even now Nagato remained supremely confident.
The future didn't represent the present, and for now they still held the greatest advantage.
"Then I'll wait and see," Obito said flatly. "If anything goes wrong, I'll step in."
"Good." Nagato nodded. He no longer regarded 'Uchiha Madara' with hostility as he had last time—because he'd seen the future showdown between the two peak shinobi, Naruto and Sasuke.
He felt he should trust 'Madara' a little. The man had done plenty behind his back,
but their plan to gather the Tailed Beasts hadn't changed.
As long as that was certain, it was enough.
The video continued to play.
After Naruto and Sasuke punched fists, they stared at each other.
The scene shifted slightly.
Young Naruto sat alone on a swing; then he stepped off, gazing at the sunset, an unimaginable loneliness radiating from him.
On the other side, Naruto stood by the river, looking at young Sasuke seated there.
Sasuke saw young Naruto walking toward him.
Both Sasuke and young Naruto turned to look at the Naruto below and the young Sasuke beside him.
Young Sasuke turned his head, frowned slightly when he saw young Naruto,
and young Naruto made a face of disgust and walked away.
It wasn't their first meeting, yet it was the moment they most keenly felt each other's loneliness.
Both Naruto and Sasuke, in that instant, sensed the solitude the other carried.
So they became friends—very close friends.
The scene shifted again; now in Nine-Tails form, Naruto was sent flying by a kick from Sasuke.
The next instant a fireball raced toward him; Naruto leapt up and dodged.
The complete Susanoo kept spitting fireballs at him.
Naruto, in Nine-Tails mode, either evaded or blocked them all.
BOOM—!!!
The Nine-Tails and Susanoo collided, sending up terrifying waves once more.
CLANG—!!!!
Susanoo swung its Chakra blade; the Nine-Tails blocked it.
Every exchange between Naruto and Sasuke churned the surroundings into violent surges—clearly just normal attacks.
They were probing; these fearsome strikes were only tests.
And from the start, the Golden Nine-Tails had barely countered, only defended.
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